Bitch Media - voting rights acthttp://bitchmagazine.org/taxonomy/term/12556/0
enOn Our Radar: Feminist News Rounduphttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-feminist-news-roundup-23
<p><em>Today is not just any Wednesday—it's the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's &nbsp;"I Have a Dream" speech. All of today's links are about the impact of the speech and the civil rights issues we still face today.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/9613584625_a02b7883a4_z.jpg" alt="A drawing of MLK's hands at the march on washington" width="500" height="297" /></p>
<p>• Read and listen to the speech that was a turning point in American civil rights. <a href="http://www.ebony.com/news-views/i-have-a-dream-video-304#axzz2dHIfkre1" target="_blank">Here's the full text</a>—not just the soundbites—and an <a href="http://freedoms-ring.org/?view=Speech" target="_blank">amazing animated rendition of the speech</a>. [Ebony, Freedom's Ring] &nbsp;</p>
<p>• Meet Bayard Rustin, the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/08/bayard-rustin-march-washington-50th-anniversary" target="_blank">black, gay pacifist who was a main organizer of the march</a> but who was kept behind the scenes thanks to homophobia among both his allies and enemies. [Mother Jones] &nbsp;</p>
<p>• Only two women were invited to speak at the original march—and one of them wasn't able to make it. Now, civil rights advocate&nbsp;<a href="http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/26/myrlie-evers-williams-stand-your-ground-for-freedom/" target="_blank">Myrlie Evers-Williams finally gets her due</a>. [MSNBC]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• What problems still limit equality in our country? <a href="http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/08/28/op-ed-marching-washington-and-issues-we-all-face" target="_blank">This piece sums it up</a>: "It's about systematically cutting off certain groups of people from the right to vote, to earn a living wage, to make choices about their own bodies, to recognize and provide for their families." [Advocate]&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>• The name of the original march was actually the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." We've made progress promoting civil rights, but many of the march's original goals for <a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/61215/civil-rights-march-the-one-part-of-it-that-no-one-remembers" target="_blank">creating economic equality have been forgotten</a>. [PolicyMic]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Speakers who gathered in Detroit over the weekend to commemorate the speech noted that MLK <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20130824/NEWS01/308240078/Revive-the-dream-march-detroit-immigrants" target="_blank">would have fought Obama's rampant deportations</a>. [Detroit Free Press]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Think about the immense amount of work it will take to write&nbsp;<a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/08/what_it_would_take_to_pass_a_voting_rights_amendment_infographic.html" target="_blank">a Voting Rights Act amendment</a>&nbsp;into the Constitution. [Colorlines] &nbsp;</p>
<p>• This quote from the youngest speaker at the original march, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/08/28/216259218/50-years-after-march-on-washington-john-lewis-still-fighting" target="_blank">John Lewis</a>, is still way too true today:&nbsp;"Where is the political party that would make it unnecessary to march on Washington?" [NPR]&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>What did I miss? Add what you're reading to the comments.&nbsp;</em></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-feminist-news-roundup-23#commentscivil rightsLGBTmartin luther kingvoting rights actNewsWed, 28 Aug 2013 16:13:15 +0000Sarah Mirk23958 at http://bitchmagazine.orgRuth Bader Ginsburg Explains Racism to the Supreme Courthttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/ruth-bader-ginsburg-explains-racism-to-the-supreme-court-voting-rights-act
<p><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2849/9139696196_de0fb96cda.jpg" alt="Ruth Bader Ginsburg with quote &quot;those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it&quot;" width="500" height="300" /></p>
<p>This morning, the Supreme Court decided 5-4 that a central piece of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 (or VRA) is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>Pretty much anyone who cares about equality has called the decision a travesty. But the person who has written the most excoriating take-down of the Justice's faulty reasoning is their colleague and <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/06/ruth-bader-ginsburg-hero.html" target="_blank">American hero</a>, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.</p>
<p>The VRA laid out the legal groundwork for fighting the race-based voter discrimination that plagued many parts of America since the end of the Civil War. A piece of the federal policy maps out areas of the country—including <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/section-five-voting-rights-act-map/">much of the South and parts of California—</a>that have a history of racial discrimination and requires the federal government to review all new election laws in those areas before they're enacted just to make sure they won't lead to discrimination. This is the part of the law that five conservative Supreme Court justices decided is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>The justices who decided in favor of gutting the act make the classic "post-racial" America argument: Things aren't perfect now, but they're certainly much less racist than they were in the sixties. Look! African-Americans vote much more now than they used to and Southern states have elected some people of color. Therefore, racism is no longer a problem. The federal government needs to butt out.</p>
<p>Ginsburg calls bullshit on this in her <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf" target="_blank">brilliant dissent</a>, written on behalf of herself and the three other justices (Justices Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor) &nbsp;who sided in favor of keeping the VRA intact. Racism has become less obvious, writes Ginsburg, but it hasn't disappeared—racial bias continues to infect our systems and institutions in insidious ways.</p>
<p>Her dissent is a take-down that should be required reading for anyone who claims America has moved past race.</p>
<p>The justices who argue that the VRA is unconstitutional use say that evidence of voting discrimination is outdated. Pointing to <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitch_bloggers/9137470181/">stats that show voter registration among white and African-American citizens</a> in the South is now almost equal, the justices argue that it's not fair that certain parts of the country should be subject to federal oversight just because they <em>used</em> to be racist.</p>
<p>As they write:&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote><p>"In 1965, the States could be divided into those with a recent history of voting tests and low voter registration and turnout and those without those characteristics. Congress based its coverage formula on that distinction. Today the Nation is no longer divided along those lines, yet the Voting Rights Act continues to treat it as if it were."</p>
</blockquote>
<p><br />The justices then compare the days of the Civil Rights movement to the quieter times of today. Their argument recalls "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama in 1965, when police used tear gas and beat nonviolent civil rights protesters and the 1964 "Freedom Summer" when three men registering voters in Mississippi were murdered. Now, they write, both areas have elected African-American mayors. <strong></strong></p>
<p>Ginsburg throws the idea that Alabama's racism has been solved back in the faces of the court.</p>
<p>Her dissent notes that although things have improved in Alabama since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's march to Selma, in recent years, Alabama was found to have denied the voting rights "on account of race or color" more frequently than any other States in the Union, besides Mississippi, which is also singled out by the VRA.</p>
<p>We don't see the firehouses and batons in Selma today, but Ginsburg spells out the "second-generation barriers to voting," that show how racism isn't due to one bad police department, but an entire political system built and sustained by white people who want to keep power.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"The evolution of voting discrimination into more subtle second generation barriers is powerful evidence that a remedy as effective as preclearance remains vital to protect minority voting rights and prevent backsliding," explains Ginsburg.</p>
<p>In other words: the election of African-American mayors in Alabama does not mean the people in charge of the voting system have stopped systematically discriminating against people of color.</p>
<p>Ginsburg lists out numerous examples of local Alabama districts trying to subvert federal law to create "monolithic white voting blocks" for the sole purpose of "minimizing future black voting strength." One example she mentions is an FBI investigation in 2008 that secretly recorded legislators and their allies discussing how to keep a certain measure off the ballot, because if it went to a vote, "'every black, every illiterate' would be 'bused [to the polls] on HUD financed buses.'"</p>
<p>Ginsburg goes on to point out that anyone in the country can file a complaint that they have been discriminated against during an election. If the areas singled out for federal oversight really had improved, then the rate of voters complaining about discrimination should be relatively equal across the country, right<strong>? </strong></p>
<p>Instead, a 2005 study found that racial discrimination complaints in voting remains concentrated in the very areas called out by the 1965 law for special attention. While those districts account for only 25 percent of the country's population, they're home to 56 percent of the nation's successful discrimination-in-voting lawsuits.</p>
<p>So instead of disappearing, the look and impact of racism in America has changed, as shown by numerous complaints and lawsuits, the disenfranchisement of felons, and the spread of voter ID laws.</p>
<p>But the anti-VRA contingent on the court says it's high time for Congress to go back and look for new data to rewrite the law. &nbsp;</p>
<p>In response, Ginsburg points out that in 2006, Congress had to decide whether to renew the Voting Rights Act, nix the law, or change it. Congress held months' worth of hearings and assembled a 15,000-page report. Their conclusion: Yep. Racism is still a problem in our political process. In a notoriously partisan Congress, the voting rights act reauthorization passed by 390-33.</p>
<p>Demanding a record of racial discrimination as bad as the situation in 1964 is an impossible "catch-22," says Ginsburg. If the law was working, there would be less evidence of discrimination, so opponents can argue that it doesn't need to be renewed. In contrast, if the law wasn't working, there would be plenty of evidence of discrimination, but no reason to renew a law that doesn't work.</p>
<p>The dissent points out a couple real examples of this new kind of discrimination that that VRA stopped in its tracks:</p>
<ul>
<li>In 2001, the mayor and all-white five-member Board of Aldermen of Kilmichael, Mississippi, abruptly canceled the town's election after "an unprecedented number" of African-American candidates announced they were running for office.</li>
<li>In 2006, this Court found that Texas' attempt to redraw a congressional district to reduce the strength of Latino voters bore "the mark of intentional dis­crimination" and ordered the district redrawn.</li>
<li>In 1993, the City of Millen, Georgia, proposed to delay the election in a majority-black district by two years, leaving that district without representation on the city council while the neighboring majority­white district would have three representatives.</li>
</ul>
<p>These are just three of <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/06/supreme_court_purges_civil_rights_best_weapon_from_voting_rights_act.html">numerous examples of systemic discrimination</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">"A governing political coalition has an incentive to prevent changes in the existing balance of voting power," explains Ginsburg, in her best PoliSci 101 voice. "When voting is racially polarized, efforts by the ruling party to pursue that incentive will inevitably discriminate against a racial group. Just as buildings in California have a greater need to be earthquake­ proofed, places where there is greater racial polarization in voting have a greater need for prophylactic measures to prevent purposeful race discrimination."</p>
<p>When all other words fall short, Ginsburg quotes Shakespeare.&nbsp; "The Court criticizes Congress for failing to recognize that 'history did not end in 1965.' But the Court ignores that 'what's past is prologue,'" she writes, citing <em>The Tempest, </em>then quotes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana" target="_blank">George Santayana</a>:&nbsp;"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."</p>
<p>Sadly, Shakespeare was right. Just two hours after the Supreme Court issued its decision, <a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/live-dashboard/2013-06-25-supreme-court#sha=88a62b0c2" target="_blank">Texas moved to roll out voter ID laws</a> that have been proven to discriminate against Latino voters.</p>
<hr />
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http://bitchmagazine.org/post/ruth-bader-ginsburg-explains-racism-to-the-supreme-court-voting-rights-act#commentsRaceSupreme Courtvoting rights actPoliticsWed, 26 Jun 2013 00:17:42 +0000Sarah Mirk23213 at http://bitchmagazine.orgOn Our Radar: Feminist News Rounduphttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-feminist-news-roundup-6
<div>
<div>Here's what's on our radar this morning...</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Devestating news from the Supreme Court:&nbsp;<a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/06/supreme_court_purges_civil_rights_best_weapon_from_voting_rights_act.html">The Voting Rights Act has been gutted</a>&nbsp;and has stripped back decades of Civil Rights work. [Colorlines]</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul>
<li>In addition, in Adoptive Couple vs. Baby Girl, a&nbsp;<a href="http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/25/supreme-court-terminates-biological-fathers-rights-baby-veronica-150096">3-year-old girl will not be returning to her biological Cherokee father</a>, but an adoptive, non-Native couple, which will have huge consequences for the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act. [Indian Country Today]</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Professor Kimberly Ellis, aka&nbsp;<a href="http://drgoddess.com/">Dr. Goddess</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/day-1-prof-kim-ellis-aka-dr-goddess-report-back-from-george-zimmerman-trial/">breaks down the George Zimmerman trial</a>&nbsp;day one (audio). [Hard Knock Radio]</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Why every American, regardless of where they live, should&nbsp;<a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/06/23/an-open-letter-to-anyone-ready-to-write-off-texas-dont/">pay attention to the abortion restriction legislation in Texas.</a>&nbsp;Here are&nbsp;<a href="/post/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-texass-terrible-abortion-bill" target="_blank">five things you need to know about the proposed law</a>&nbsp;and counter-protest.&nbsp;[RH Reality Check, Bitch]</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>In Sweden, trans people who were forced to get sterilized are now&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/06/24/sweden-forcibly-sterilised-transgender-people-to-sue-government-for-compensation/">filing a lawsuit against the state</a>. [Pink News]</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>A final appraisal of&nbsp;<a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/a-final-appraisal-of-the-black-presence-on-mad-men-season-6">the black presence on Mad Men Season 6</a>. [Shadow and Act]</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/06/23/3357559/harvest-of-fear.html">Female farm workers in the San Joaquin Valley are facing rape</a>&nbsp;and sexual abuse in the fields. [The Fresno Bee]&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Does&nbsp;<a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/how-alcoholics-anonymous-can-be-a-playground-for-violence">Alcoholics Anonymous create a predatory environment?</a>&nbsp;[Pro Publica]</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Why are&nbsp;<a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/06/18/girls-in-juvenile-justice-an-invisible-population/">so many girls in juvenile detention placed in solitary confinement?</a>&nbsp;[RH Reality Check]</li>
</ul>
<p>Share what you're reading in the comments!</p>
</div>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-feminist-news-roundup-6#commentsabortionTexasTrayvon Martinvoting rights actNewsTue, 25 Jun 2013 15:48:43 +0000Kjerstin Johnson23194 at http://bitchmagazine.orgOn Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Rounduphttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-todays-feminist-news-roundup-69
<p><em>It's Monday! I'm kicking off the week with this round-up of feminist news from around the internets.</em></p>
<p>• Reflections on Father's Day: <a href="http://www.crunkfeministcollective.com/2013/06/17/mamas-baby-papas-maybe/" target="_blank">Remembering a distant father who left his daughter's life</a>&nbsp;and creating a <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/06/a_new_definition_of_fatherhood.html" target="_blank">new definition of what it means to be an "engaged father."</a> [Crunk Feminist Collective and Colorlines] &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Where is homosexuality most accepted? A <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/06/17/global-attitudes-toward-homosexuality/" target="_blank">new map of global attitudes toward LGBT folks reveals that</a>&nbsp;Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Canada are most supportive of homosexuality. [Sociological Images]</p>
<p>• Here's another map for Monday: There are more&nbsp;<a href="http://feministing.com/2013/06/17/map-of-the-day-fewer-waiting-periods-for-guns-than-for-abortions/" target="_blank">waiting periods for abortions than waiting periods for guns</a>&nbsp;in the US.&nbsp;[Feministing]</p>
<p>&nbsp;<img src="http://d1o2xrel38nv1n.cloudfront.net/files/2013/06/2013_06_GunsVsAbortion.png" alt="A map of waiting periods for guns vs abortion" width="400" height="430" /></p>
<p>• What would a <a href="http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/audio-what-woulddoes-a-feminist-labor-movement-look-like" target="_blank">feminist labor movement look like</a>? Writer Sarah Jaffe hosts a discussion for <em>Dissent </em>magazine. [Dissent]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Today in rape culture: A suburban Chicago fireman is accused of trying to rape an incapacitated woman at a party,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.shakesville.com/2013/06/today-in-rape-culture.html" target="_blank">his defense is she was "making eyes" at him</a>. Plus,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-13/college-serial-rapists-evade-antiquated-campus-responses.html" target="_blank">college serial rapists are evading prosecution</a>. [Shakesville and Bloomberg]</p>
<p>• Suspicious confirmed:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/06/auto-repair-shops-tend-to-overcharge-women-except-when-they-dont/276884/" target="_blank">Auto shops do tend to overcharge women</a>. [Atlantic]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/06/who_you_wont_see_in_sofia_coppolas_the_bling_ring.html" target="_blank">The immigrant you won't see in <em>The Bling Ring</em></a>: In real life, one of the members of the "bling ring" of teens that stole from Hollywood celebrities' homes was undocumented immigrant Diana Tamayo, but in the new Sophia Coppola movie, she's cast as a white citizen. [Colorlines]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• There's a <a href="http://www.themarysue.com/the-little-mermaid-kelly-marcel/" target="_blank">new live-action <em>Little Mermaid </em>movie in the works</a>, but the same director as the recent&nbsp;<em>Anna Karenina</em>. [The Mary Sue]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Paralympian Ryan Chalmers starts every day at 5:30am—he's becoming the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/interactive/2013/jun/14/how-to-cross-us-by-wheelchair?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-3%20Key%20content:Network%20front%20-%20all-purpose%20editable%20trailblock:Position2" target="_blank">first person to cross the US by wheelchair</a>. [Guardian]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Since her insurance doesn't cover gender confirmation surgery, one transgender New Yorker—<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/diana-s-transgender-surgery-fundraiser" target="_blank">24-year-old Diana Tourjee</a>—is running an Indiegogo fundraiser for the costs. [Indiegogo]&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>What did I miss? Add what you're reading to the comments.</em></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-todays-feminist-news-roundup-69#commentsabortionrapethe bling ringvoting rights actNewsMon, 17 Jun 2013 14:44:52 +0000Sarah Mirk23079 at http://bitchmagazine.orgOn Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Rounduphttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-todays-feminist-news-roundup-10
<p><em><br />
</em></p>
<p><em>Happy Friday! Here's all the feminist news I found interesting this morning. Anything else catch your eye? Add it to the comments! &nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em><br />
</em>
</p>
<p>• Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Voting Right Act. Here's <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/02/voting_rights_act_photos.html" target="_self">a brief history of the groundbreaking legislation</a> that opened up the ballot box to everyone in the United States. [Colorlines]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Asking, Telling: A Gallup poll offers data on <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/how-gay-is-your-state">which states are the gayes</a>t. [Buzzfeed]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is working on a book about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/us/sheryl-sandberg-lean-in-author-hopes-to-spur-movement.html?hp&amp;amp;_r=0" target="_self">how women can break the corporate glass ceilin</a>g. Like. [NYTimes]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Pope mystery! Rumors are circulating that the Pope resigned after it became apparent that a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/21/pope-retired-amid-gay-bishop-blackmail-inquiry" target="_self">gay bishop was being blackmailed</a>. No comment from the Vatican, though. [Guardian]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• A "landmark" cage fight: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-0222-ronda-rousey-20130222,0,1798191.story" target="_self">Ronda Rousey stars in the first female bout</a> in the ultra-violent Ultimate Fighting Championship.</p>
<p>• Gah! CNN is&nbsp;<a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/soledad-obrien-to-take-on-new-role-at-cnn/" target="_self">nixing Soledad O'Brien</a>&nbsp;from being a morning news show anchor! [NYTimes]&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>• A 19-year-old transgender person in Detroit was working for the police as an informant—until she was found dead. <a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/did-detroit-cops-send-transgender-teen-her-death" target="_self">Did the police not keep her safe enough</a>? [Alternet]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Accused of killing his girlfriend, South African Olympian <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/22/oscar-pistorius-released-on-bail" target="_self">Oscar Pistorious is released on bail</a>. [Guardian]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• <a href="http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/02/21/international-data-on-cosmetic-surgery/" target="_self">Which countries get the most plastic surgery?</a> US is in the top five. [Sociological Images]&nbsp;</p>
<p>• Three words I never thought we'd see remotely near eachother: <a href="http://jezebel.com/childbirth/" target="_self">Livestream. C-Section. Twitter.</a>&nbsp;[Jezebel]</p>
<p>• A comics fan puts together a list of some <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/02/20/172133247/beyond-visible-lgbt-characters-in-graphic-novels" target="_self">great LGBT characters in graphic novels</a>. [NPR]</p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/on-our-radar-todays-feminist-news-roundup-10#commentsOscar Pistoriuspoperonda rouseysheryl sandbergvoting rights actNewsFri, 22 Feb 2013 17:21:35 +0000Sarah Mirk21504 at http://bitchmagazine.org